I’m Alive!
What makes your heart pump with excitement?
Our pastor relayed a story on Easter about a little girl who watched from the sidelines as other kids went down a big blow up slide. She desperately wanted to join in but fear kept her at bay. As the time was coming for the slide to be deflated, the girl finally got up enough nerve to cautiously go up the stairs one timid step at a time.
As she reached the top and was about to sit down to slide, another child came through knocking her feet out from under her. The girl tumbled head over heels down the slide and reached the bottom in a slump. She then stood up as though a gymnast at the end of a magnificent routine with hands raised in the air proudly proclaiming, “I’m alive! I’m alive!”
There are lots of events that make us feel alive.
A near death experience.
Breathing in the crisp morning air as you stand at the top of a mountain.
The adrenaline rush at the end of a race.
Doing something you never thought you could accomplish but you came through on the other side victorious.
What about everyday experiences?
Kissing a loved one as he/she heads off for the day, taking some quiet time to meditate for a few moments, listening to someone who is in need of a caring ear.
We often dismiss those tiny moments of being alive. We’re quick to file them away taking them for granted, but those minute daily events are the ones that can make us feel most alive when we pay attention to them.
What makes us feel alive?
Howard Thurman once said,
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
What makes one person feel alive might be completely crazy to someone else or might also be terribly mundane.
Take my niece Aryn, for example, in the picture above. When I saw it on Facebook, I accused her of being on the wrong side of the chain. She assured me that she was actually on the correct side.
In my mind, I thought, “Girl, you are nuts!!”
And yet I was also proud of her for doing something that made her come alive.
While her sense of adventure might feel extreme, we all need to do a better job of understanding and pursuing what stokes our flame. And then, as Thurman says, we need to do it.
I’m not talking about searching for your passion. I’m talking about getting out there and taking action. Stop thinking about it and just do it.
An epiphany
Have you ever had that moment when you looked back on something and said, ‘Well, gosh, that seems obvious now… why didn’t I see it then?’ I like to call this the Face Palm Epiphany. Oh, hindsight, you magical, humbling thing. — Alethea Kontis
I absolutely had one of those today, and it took me awhile but it finally dawned on me much like the sun as it magically spreads its rays through the most unlikely places.
I subconsciously discovered that I was reading articles that had the same recurring theme,
If you want to be a writer, get your butt in the chair and write. Every. Single. Damn. Day.
Writing makes me feel alive. I get an adrenaline rush as I put words to paper or type them on a screen. What my niece captured at Angels Landing, I capture when I scribe. It’s in my blood, but alas, I don’t commit fully. I don’t do it consistently. I don’t do it on the days when I’m feeling less than creative.
And on those days, the fire is merely smoldering, threatening to extinguish. But not anymore. Not after the wake-up call I got today. The one that said to be a writer, write every day.
Your challenge.
I’m not asking you to list out what might make you come alive. Although, that is an adequate starting point.
What I am challenging you to do is stop thinking and start doing. See what gets your adrenaline pumping and keep doing it.
I can’t wait to find out what you discover, what makes you yell out the words triumphantly,
“I’m ALIVE!”
Thanks for reading this piece! I’m an elementary school counselor by day and a writer 24/7. I write about everyday experiences with a positive twist, because that’s how I roll. If my vibe resonates with you, check out my blog Everyday Life Uncluttered and sign up for my newsletter GTI Wednesday. You can find them both here.
